There and Back Again ... With Levi

Well, I'm finally back from my big trip across the bredth of India. Levi and I travelled from coast to coast - from Chennai to Hyderabad to Mumbai back to Chennai and finally to Auroville. We spent a total of about 60 hours in trains and a bus throughout our travels. I will not even attempt to describe in any sort of detail the things we saw, did, and experienced. It was an entire trip in itself. I quickly became a moderate expert on travel in South India. From haggling with auto-rickshaw drivers to filling foreigner births on trains to learning to ignore the most precious beggar children and feeling horrific inside, I have experienced so much of urban India in such a short period of time. In one word, I would describe the trip as "heavy."

Levi and I did many touristy things and many not-so-touristy things. We visited orphanages, saw slums, ate at the finest and the mediocre restaurants, saw the worst and the best films India has to offer, argued religion with a Hindu, shared incredible experiences with a Christian pastor, saw the 5-star hotel where terrorists siezed control just two months ago, and prayed together every night. I will ever be thankful for those prayers. They, in combination with a gluttunous amount of journaling, helped me stay balanced and sane. I don't know if I have ever had such an impactful, tiring and full 10 days in my life. I am not sure that I ever would want to repeat this trip again, and yet I want to be involved in the things I saw for the rest of my life.


I will allow the pictures and videos I took to tell the tale. If they are not good enough, then call me when I get back to the States (March 10th at 12:00 pm). I'll fill you in on the rest. Let me give you a short itinerary of our trip, and then explore the links to the many pictures and videos I took. I did not get a chance to get Levi's pictures and videos from him before he left, and I'm sort of glad. I took far too many for myself, and I can hardly handle all of them. 1,343 pictures and videos in all. Yikes! I have almost finished sorting through all of them, I hope you enjoy!


Here's our approximate itinerary including things you will see in pictures in videos...


Chennai (1 day)

-We got our first experiences with auto-rickshaws.

-We visited St. Mary's Cathedral and Fort St. George - where the Madras High Court is seated. We saw vehicles all over with glass broken in and heard a crowd gathering and shouting. We found out that the night before, police had smashed in all of the advocates' (lawyers') windows because they beat an important man in the Sri Lankan conflict. Incredible buildings, though.

-We left on the train for Hyderabad.


Hyderabad (4 days, 3 nights)

-We spent 2 days with Pastor Sudhakar. One of those days was spent touring four orphanages, one future orphanage, and one new church among all sorts of government construction (housing for the poor). The kids sang for us. We were served tons of Sprite. We saw lots of slums.

-We spent 2 more days being more like tourists. We revisited the big orphanage with 45 kids, had lunch with them, and then left to see some of the sights. We saw the Mecca Masjid (the 6th largest mosque in India), the Charminaar, and Sagar-Hussein Lake - a huge man-made lake with a giant statue of Buddha in the middle. We took tons of pictures. Just outside of the Charminaar was a massive fruit market. Tons of watermelons.

-The last day we revisited Sagar-Hussein Lake, took a speed boat tour (it was the stinkiest lake I have ever experienced), and stumbled upon the most impressive memorial I have ever seen. Again, lots of pictures.

-We took the train to Mumbai.

Mumbai (4 days, 3 nights)

-We found that almost everything we wanted to do was within walking distance! The buildings were all beautiful, and the people were much more busy. They were all professionally dressed and hussling and bustling about.

-We visited the Prince of Wales Museum (for 4 hours), the Taj Hotel, the Gateway of India, the Regal Cinemas, Zenze Restaurant (the most expensive meal we had the whole trip), the Queen's Necklace (Marine Drive), McDonalds, and even did some shopping.

-We watched Slumdog Millionare just about a mile from where the train station where a chunk of it was filmed (and where we came in to Mumbai). It was an incredible movie which was exceedingly difficult to watch after having ignored so many beggar children. I'm not sure what to do about that or how to feel. We also watched "Dheli-6" at the same theatre, which seemed like a good movie, but which was all in Hindi without subtitles. I'll have to see it when I get home.

-We took the train back to Chennai (26.5 hours) and then a bus back to Auroville (4 hours).

Wow!!!


Extra Pictures from New Creation Bilingual School: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/NewCreationBilingualSchool#

Photos from the Train: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/TrainRide#

Photos from Chennai: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/Chennai#

Photos from Hyderabad 1 - Bethel Gospel Church: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/BethelGospelChurch

Photos from Hyderabad 2 - Tourist Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/Hyderabad

Photos from Mumbai: http://picasaweb.google.com/magicalmatt/Mumbai

Video of Chennai: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hy7rh8TdqI

Video of Pigeons at the Mecca Masjid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yu6UvKBItc

Video - Mumbai, Peace on the Water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuurs1E7wvA

Video of Mumbai Panoramas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26FNG405O3s

Hyderabad Eagle Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vumU-ZgU35Y

Hyderabad Butterfly Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-i13YAMCZY

Video of Traveling with Pastor Sudhakar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-g4sSQBlVw

Video of Bethel Gospel Church Sunday School: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mFLzX3e904

Video of Hyderabad Panoramas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qO-BvDxB1A

Video of Singing Orphans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oA1hexOmKA

Ummm ... Pure Silliness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ_yc4eYhG4